A.P. U.S. History Notes
Chapter 8: “America Secedes from the Empire”
~
1775 – 1783 ~
I.
Congress Drafts George Washington
1.
After the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord in April
of 1775, about 20,000 Minutemen swarmed around Boston, where they outnumbered the
British.
2.
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on
May 10, 1775, with no real intention of independence, merely a desire to
continue fighting in the hope that the king and Parliament would consent to a
redress of grievances.
a.
It sent another list of grievances to Parliament.
b.
It also adopted measures to raise money for an army and
a navy.
c.
It also selected George Washington to command the army.
(1)
George had never risen above the rank of colonel, and
his largest command had only been of 1200 men, but he was a tall figure who
looked like a leader, and thus, was a moral boost to troops.
(2)
He radiated patience, courage, self-discipline, and a
sense of justice, and though he insisted on working without pay, he did keep a
careful expense account amounting to more than $100,00.
II.
Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings
1.
In the first year, the war was one of consistency, as
the colonists maintained their loyalty while still shooting at the king’s men.
2.
In May 1775, a tiny American force led by Ethan Allen
and Benedict Arnold, surprised and captured the British garrisons at
Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
3.
In June 1775, the colonials seized Bunker Hill (before
known as Breed’s Hill).
a.
Instead of flanking them, the Redcoats launched a
frontal attack, and the heavily entrenched colonial sharpshooters mowed them
down until meager gunpowder supplies ran out and they were forced to retreat.
4.
After Bunker Hill, George III slammed the door for all
hope of reconciliation and declared the colonies to be in open rebellion, a
treasonous affair.
5.
The King also hired many German mercenaries, called
Hessians, who, because they were lured by booty and not duty, had large numbers
desert and remained in America to become respectful citizens.
III.
The Abortive Conquest of Canada
1.
In October 1775, the British burned Falmouth
(Portland), Maine.
2.
The colonists decided that invading Canada would add a
14th colony and deprive Britain of a valuable base for striking at
the colonies in revolt.
a.
Also, the French-Canadians would support the Americans
because they supposedly were bitter about Britain’s taking over of their land.
b.
General Richard Montgomery captured Montreal.
c.
At Quebec, he was joined by the bedraggled army of
General Benedict Arnold.
d.
On the last day of 1775, in the assault of Quebec, Montgomery
was killed and Arnold was wounded in one leg, and the whole campaign collapsed
as the men retreated up the St. Lawrence River, reversing the way Montgomery
had come.
e.
Besides, the French-Canadians, who had welcomed the
Quebec Act, didn’t really like the anti-Catholic invaders.
3.
In January 1776, the British set fire to Norfolk,
Virginia, but in March, they were finally forced to evacuate Boston.
4.
In the South, the rebels won a victory against some
1500 Loyalists at Moore’s Creek Bridge, in South Carolina, and against an
invading British fleet at Charleston Harbor.
IV.
Thomas Paine Preaches Common Sense
1.
In 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense,
which urged colonials to stop this war of inconsistency, stop pretending
loyalty, and just fight.
2.
Nowhere in the universe did a smaller body control a
larger one, so Paine argued, saying why tiny Britain had to control gigantic
America.
3.
He called King George III “the Royal Brute of Great
Britain.”
V.
Paine and the Idea of “Republicanism”
1.
Paine argued his idea that there should be a “republic”
where senators, governors, and judges should have their power from the consent
of the people.
2.
He laced his ideas with Biblical imagery, familiar to
common folk.
3.
His ideas about rejecting monarchy and empire and
embrace an independent republic fell on receptive ears in America, though it
should be noted that these ideas already existed.
a.
The New Englanders already practiced this type of
government in their town meetings.
4.
Some patriots, though, favored a republic ruled by a
“natural aristocracy.”
VI.
Jefferson’s “Explanation” of Independence
1.
Members of the Philadelphia Congress, instructed by
their colonies, gradually moved toward a clean break with Britain.
2.
On June 7, 1776, fiery Richard Henry urged for complete
independence, an idea that was finally adopted on July 2, 1776.
3.
To write such a statement, Congress appointed Thomas
Jefferson, already renown as a great writer, to concoct a Declaration of
Independence.
a.
He did so eloquently, coming up with a list of
grievances against King George III and persuasively explaining why the colonies
had the right to revolt.
b.
His “explanation” of independence also upheld the
“natural rights” of humankind.
4.
When Congress approved it on July 2nd, John
Adams proclaimed that date to be celebrated from then on with fireworks, but
because of editing and final approval, it was not completely approved until
July 4th, 1776.
VII.
Patriots and Loyalists
1.
The War of Independence was a war within a war, as not
all colonials were united.
a.
There were Patriots, who supported rebellion and were
called “Whigs.”
b.
There were Loyalists, who supported the King, often
went to battle against fellow Americans, and were called “Tories.”
c.
There were those who didn’t care, and these people were
constantly being asked to join one side or another.
2.
During the war, the British proved that they could only
control Tory areas, because when Redcoats packed up and left other areas, the
rebels would regain control.
3.
The Patriot militias constantly harassed small British
detachments.
4.
Loyalists were generally conservatives, but the war
divided families.
a.
Benjamin Franklin was against his illegitimate son,
William, the last royal governor of New Jersey.
5.
The Patriots were generally the younger generation,
like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry.
6.
Loyalists were most numerous where the Anglican Church
was strongest.
7.
There were also those who sold to the highest bidder,
selling the British and ignoring starving, freezing soldiers (i.e. George
Washington at Valley Forge).
8.
Loyalists were less numerous in New England, where
Presbyterianism and Congregationalism flourished.
VIII.
The Loyalist Exodus
1.
After the Declaration of Independence, Loyalists and
Patriots were more sharply divided, and Patriots often confiscated Loyalist
property and resell it (good way to raise money).
2.
Some 50,000 Loyalists served the British in one way or
another (fighting, spying, etc…), and it was an oddity that the Brits didn’t
make more use of them during the war.
IX.
General Washington at Bay
1.
After the evacuation of Boston, the British focused on
New York as a HQ for operations.
a.
An awe-inspiring fleet appeared off the coast in July
1776, consisting of some 500 ships and 35,000 men—the largest armed force seen
in America ever until the Civil War.
b.
Washington could only muster 18,000 ill-trained men to
fight, and they were routed at the Battle of Long Island.
c.
Washington escaped to Manhattan Island, crossed the
Hudson River to New Jersey, reaching the Delaware River with taunting, fox-hunt
calling British on his heels.
d.
Crossing the Delaware River at Trenton on a cold
December 26, 1776, and surprised and captured a thousand Hessians who were
sleeping off their Christmas Day celebration (drinking).
e.
He then left his campfires burning as a ruse, slipped
away, and inflicted a sharp defeat on a smaller British detachment at
Princeton, showing his military genius at its best.
f.
It was odd that General William Howe, the British
general, didn’t crush Washington when he was at the Delaware, but he well
remembered Bunker Hill, and was cautious.
X.
Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion
1.
London officials adopted a complicated scheme for
capturing the vital Hudson River Valley in 1777 which, if successful, would
severe New England from the rest of the colonies:
a.
General Burgoyne would push down the Lake Champlain
route from Canada.
b.
General Howe’s troops in New York, if needed, could
advance up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne in Albany.
c.
A third and much smaller British force commanded by
Colonel Barry St. Ledger would come in from the west by way of Lake Ontario and
the Mohawk Valley.
2.
However, Benedict Arnold, after failure at Quebec,
retreated slowly along the St. Lawrence back to Lake Champlain, where the
British would have to win control (of the lake) before proceeding.
a.
The Brits stopped to build a huge force, while Arnold assembled
a tattered flotilla from whatever boats he could find.
b.
His “navy” was destroyed, but he had gained valuable
time, because winter set in and the British settled in Canada; they would have
to begin anew the next spring.
(1)
Had Arnold not contributed his daring and skill, the
Brits most likely would have recaptured Ticonderoga and Burgoyne could have
started from there and succeeded in his venture.
3.
Burgoyne began his mission with 7000 troops and a heavy
baggage train consisting of a great number of the officers’ wives.
a.
Meanwhile, sneaky rebels, sensing the kill, were
gathering along his flanks.
4.
General Howe, at a time when he should be starting up
the Hudson, deliberately embarked for an attack on Philadelphia.
a.
He wanted to force an encounter with Washington and
leave the path wide open for Burgoyne’s thrust; he thought he had enough time
to help Burgoyne if needed.
b.
Washington transferred his troops to Philly, but was
defeated at Brandywine Creek and Germantown.
c.
Then, the fun-loving Howe settled down in Philadelphia,
leaving Burgoyne “to the dogs.”
d.
Ben Franklin, in Paris, joked that Howe hadn’t captured
Philadelphia, but that “Philadelphia had captured Howe.”
5.
Washington finally retired for the winter at Valley
Forge, where his troops froze in the cold, but a recently arrived Prussian
drill master, Baron von Steuben, whipped the cold troops into shape.
6.
Burgoyne’s doomed troops were bogged down, and the
rebels swarmed in with a series of sharp engagements, pushing the St. Legers force
back at Oriskany while Burgoyne, unable to advance or retreat, surrendered his
entire force at Saratoga, on October 17, 1777.
a.
Perhaps one of the most decisive battles in British and
American history.
XI.
Strange French Bedfellows
1.
France was eager to get revenge on Britain, and
secretly supplied the Americans throughout much of the war.
2.
After the humiliation at Saratoga, the British offered
the Americans a measure that gave them home rule—everything they wanted except
independence.
3.
After Saratoga, France finally was persuaded to enter
the war against Britain.
a.
Louis XVI’s ministers argued that this was the perfect
time to act, because if Britain regained control, she might then try to capture
the French West Indies for compensation for the war.
b.
Now was the time the strike, rather than risk a
stronger Britain with its reunited colonies.
4.
France, in 1778, offered a treaty of alliance, offering
America everything that Britain had offered, plus recognition of independence.
a.
The Americans accepted with caution, since France was
pro-Catholic, but since they needed help, they’d take it.
XII.
The Colonial War Becomes a World War
1.
In 1779, Spain and Holland entered the war against
Britain.
2.
In 1780, Catherine the Great of Russia took the lead in
organizing the Armed Neutrality (she later called it the Armed Nullity) that
lined up all of Europe’s neutrals in passive hostility against England.
3.
America, though it kept the war going until 1778,
didn’t win until France, Spain, and Holland joined in and Britain couldn’t
handle them all.
4.
Britain, with the French now in the seas, decided to
finally evacuate Philadelphia and concentrate their forces in New York, and
even though Washington attacked them at Monmouth on a blisteringly hot day in
which scores of men died of sunstroke, the British escaped to New York.
XIII.
Blow and Counterblow
1.
French reinforcements, commanded by Comte de
Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780, but flares sometimes
erupted between the Americans and the French.
2.
In 1780, feeling unappreciated and lured by British
gold, General Benedict Arnold turned traitor by plotting with the British to
sell out West Point.
a.
When the plot was discovered, he fled with the British.
b.
“Whom can we trust now?” cried George Washington in
anguish.
3.
The British devised a plan to roll up the colonies from
the South.
a.
Georgia was ruthlessly overrun in 1778-1779.
b.
Charleston, South Carolina, fell in 1780.
c.
In the Carolinas, Patriots bitterly fought their
Loyalist neighbors.
d.
However, in 1781, American riflemen wiped out a British
detachment at King’s Mountain, and then defeated a smaller force at Cowpens.
e.
At the Carolina campaign of 1781, Quaker-reared
tactician General Nathanael Greene distinguished himself with his strategy of
delay.
(1)
By slowly retreating and losing battles but winning
campaigns, he helped clear the British out of most of Georgia and South
Carolina.
XIV.
The Land Frontier and the Sea Frontier
1.
1777 was known as the “bloody year” on the frontier, as
Indians went on a scalping spree.
2.
Most of the Indians supported Britain and believed that
if they won, it would stop American expansion into the West, and save Indian
land.
3.
Mohawk chief Joseph Brant, recently converted to
Anglicanism, and his men ravaged the backcountry of Pennsylvania and New York
until check by Americans in 1779.
4.
In 1784, the pro-British Iroquois (the Oneidas and the
Tuscaroras had sided with the Americans, the other four with the British)
signed the Treaty of For Stanwix, the first treaty between the U.S. and an
Indian nation.
a.
Under its terms, the Indians ceded most of their land.
5.
Even in wartime, pioneers moved west, showing their
gratitude to the French with such town names as Louisville while remembering
the Revolution with Lexington, Kentucky.
6.
George Rogers Clark, an audacious frontiersman, floated
down the Ohio River with about 175 in 1778-1779 and captured forts Kaskaskia,
Cahokia, and Vicennes in quick succession.
7.
The tiny American navy never really hurt the British
warships, but it did destroy British merchant shipping and carried the war into
the waters around the British Isles.
8.
Swift privateers preyed on enemy shipping, capturing
many ships and forcing them to sail in convoys.
XV.
Yorktown and the Final Curtain.
1.
Before the last decisive victory, inflation continued
to soar, and the government was virtually bankrupt, and announced that it could
only repay many of its debts at a rate of 2.5 cents on the dollar.
2.
However, Cornwallis was blundering into a trap.
a.
Retreating to Chesapeake Bay and assuming that British
control of the seas would give him much needed backup, Cornwallis instead was
trapped by Washington’s army, which had come 300 miles from New York,
Rochambeau’s French army, and the navy of French Admiral de Grasse.
3.
After hearing the news of Cornwallis’ defeat, Lord
North cried, “Oh God! It’s all over!”
4.
Stubborn King George wanted to continue the war, since
he still had 54,000 troops in North America and 32,000 in the U.S., and
fighting did continue for about a year after Yorktown, especially in the South,
but America had won.
XVI.
Peace at Paris
1.
Many Brits were weary of the war, since they had
suffered heavy reverse in India and the West Indies, the island of Minorca in
the Mediterranean had fallen, and the Rock of Gibraltar was tottering.
2.
Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay met in Paris for
a peace deal.
a.
Jay suspected that France would try to keep the U.S.
cooped up east of the Alleghenies and keep America weak.
b.
Instead, Jay, thinking that France would betray
American ambitious to satisfy those of Spain, secretly made separate overtures
to London (against instructions from Congress) and came to terms quickly with
the British, who were eager to entice one of their enemies from the alliance.
3.
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, Britain formally
recognized the USA and granted generous boundaries, stretching majestically to
the Mississippi on the west, the Great Lakes on the north, and to Spanish
Florida on the South.
a.
The Yankees also retained a share in the priceless
fisheries of Newfoundland.
b.
Americans couldn’t persecute Loyalists, though, and
Congress could only recommend legislatures that confiscated Loyalist
land.
XVII.
A New Nation Legitimized
1.
Britain had ceded so much land because it was trying to
entice America from its French alliance.
a.
Remember, George Rogers Clark had only conquered a
small part of the land.
2.
Also, during the time, the American-friendly Whigs were
in control of the Parliament, which was not to be the case in later years.
3.
France approved the treaty, though with cautious eyes.
4.
In truth, America came out the big winner, and seldom,
if ever, have any people been so favored.
XVIII.
Makers of America: The Loyalists
1.
Loyalists were conservative, well-educated, thought
that a complete break with Britain would invite anarchy, and felt that America
couldn’t win against the more powerful army in the world.
2.
Many Britons had settled in America after the Seven
Years’ War, and they had reason to support their home country.
3.
Thousands of African-Americans joined the British ranks
for hope of freedom from bondage.
a.
Many Black Loyalists won their freedom from Britain.
b.
Others suffered betrayal, such as when Cornwallis
abandoned over 4000 former slaves in Virginia and when many Black Loyalists
boarded ships expecting to embark for freedom and instead found themselves sold
back into slavery.
c.
Some Black exiles settled in Britain, but weren’t
really accepted easily.
4.
Most Loyalists remained in America, where they faced
special burdens and struggled to re-establish themselves in a society that
viewed them as traitors.
5.
Hugh Gaine, though, succeeded.
a.
He reopened his business and even won contracts fro the
new government.
b.
He also published the new national army regulations
authored by Baron von Steuben.
c.
When New York ratified the Constitution in 1788, Gaine rode
the float at the head of the city’s celebration parade.
d.
He had, like many other former Loyalists, become an
American.
